NaNoWriMo 2016
by Zeiyuu
Summary: Another 30 day prompt challenge, this time I came up with the words. A series of one-shots that feature my favorite pair, NaLu Please be sure to review if you enjoy what you read!
1. Aim

Here we go~ Please be sure to review~

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There were few things in the world that could stagger Lucy Heartfilia.

She had seen too much. Done too much. She was completely and unchangeably affected by the darkness that tainted the world.

Despite the meaning of her name, she could no longer see the light. She could no longer feel the joy that her younger self had felt so often.

This was all fine. She no longer needed such things. In fact, over the years… she'd come to believe that joy was a weakness that an enemy could use against her.

Despite all of this, the finger on the trigger of her M89SR twitched as she peered through the scope and stared at the shocking head of rose colored hair.

She hesitated.

Because she hesitated, she missed her chance to bury a bullet into her target.

"Shit." She muttered under her breath before frowning and pinching the bridge of her nose.

After almost eight years of doing this kind of thing, she had truly thought that she'd managed to erase every trace of her former self. Though now… it was clear that she hadn't.

Slowly, the blonde sat up from where she'd been laying flat on her stomach.

That had potentially been her only chance to kill the person who had been the source of so much of her pain all those years ago. To effectively remove him from this world as he had so easily removed himself from her life.

Merely thinking about the betrayal was enough for Lucy to become angry. Proof that while she had become so much stronger both mentally and physically… she still couldn't help but falter a bit when it came to him. The man who had so easily left her when she was at her most vulnerable.

Natsu Dragneel.

She had been a little bit surprised when she read his name on her most frequent clients hit list.

At twenty-six years old, Lucy had truly believed that she would never have to think about Natsu ever again. She'd believed that she was done with that phase in her life.

Clearly, that had been a naive thing to think. Especially considering the fact that he was alive.

Now, she couldn't help but wonder when he'd learned of the accident that had involved their guild. She could only imagine that he'd feel guilty for leaving them all behind in the first place. Part of her had expected him to kill himself.

Mavis knows how many times she thought of doing that herself before she found herself joining a military-esque guild instead.

They'd effectively broken her down and built her into something of a much stronger version of herself. A version that she never would have been able to attain had she not gone through all of that loss all at once.

First her precious friend, Aquarius. Then her entire guild.

Lucy remembered the feeling of complete and utter betrayal that she'd felt when she found Natsu's letter after finally returning home from the charred remains of their guild and all of the people who had been trapped inside during the horrible event.

Lucy had not smiled once since that day.

Almost as an afterthought, Lucy reached up and touched the corner of her mouth. It was turned down, as it often was. She wasn't even sure if she could remember how to smile. Sometimes she tried, when she was alone and in front of a mirror.

It never looked genuine.

Her eyes lacked that shine, that glimmer in which smiling was supposed to bring about.

Besides, it wasn't as though she had a real reason to actually smile. Lucy did not feel drawn to a single one of the people in her life now.

Sure, she'd managed to meet new people. She'd managed to make acquaintances with a few of those who were in the same military guild as her. Though she only ever spoke to them when the topic related to work.

Lucy refused to put herself in another situation that would make it possible for her to feel that same kind of pain that she'd felt eight years prior.

"Lucy." The blonde didn't move at the suddenness of the voice that spoke her name. She'd heard the soft footfalls that had alerted her to the presence of her guildmate.

"What is it, Lilith?" Lucy asked without moving her gaze from where she'd seen Natsu mere minutes ago. She didn't need to look in order to confirm who it was that stood behind her.

The brunette was the only person who bothered with speaking and interacting with her these days.

"I don't think you should take this job." The words were quiet, yet firm. "It would be reckless for you to do so, you aren't ready for something like this."

Lucy only blinked.

"He is here looking for you, did you know that?"

Lucy _hadn't_ known that. She'd simply been told that the target would be in Hargeon and that she needed to be there so that she could take him out before he left.

"How do you know?" Lucy asked after a long moment of silence, still not turning her head.

"He asked me about you. He has been asking every single person in Hargeon about you, I don't think he knew that I actually knew who you were." Lucy could hear the frown in Lilith's voice. "He is very determined to find you, Lucy."

"You think so? Well, he certainly sucks at finding people then. Eight years is a long time to search for somebody without any luck." The bitterness that Lucy felt seeped into her tone and she felt a grimace form on her face as it did so.

"You're right, you know I've never been the best at stuff like this Luce."

Lucy stopped breathing at the second voice. It was a voice that she never would have expected to hear again, a voice that was able to immediately cause her blood to run cold.

Slowly, Lucy stood up and turned to face the man that was at the center of her resentment.

He didn't look like he aged a day. Save for the fact that he was a bit taller and how his hair had grown out. It now reached his shoulders in a mess of rose colored spikes.

His eyes looked tired, though the smile on his face forced Lucy back a step as she recoiled. He might as well have slapped her.

That smile was genuine.

For some reason, instead of reaching for the revolver that rested at her hip within its holster… Lucy strode forward and smacked the young man plain across the face. The sound almost seemed to echo as she glared daggers at the face that no longer was pointed directly at her.

Natsu seemed to be stunned by her action as he reached up and touched the already reddening cheek that she had struck.

"How _dare_ you address me so casually, how _dare_ you come here and call me 'Luce'." Lucy could feel her own cheeks heating up as she felt the long dormant rage begin to settle in.

"Lucy…" Natsu trailed off as he slowly turned his eyes onto her, clearly hesitant about doing so. "I'm sorry…" though he said these words, it was clear that he knew an apology could never mend things between them. He could see the look on her face and see the years and years of pain that had accumulated so much.

"Lucy… I had no idea about Aquarius before I left." He said quietly, words that shot through Lucy in a way that she had only imagined that a gun could manage. "There is no way I would have left if I knew what was going to happen to the guild so soon after too… Luce, I would have never left your side if I had known."

The blonde could see the pain in Natsu's eyes and she knew that he was being honest.

Despite that, how could she possibly forgive him for what he'd done? How could she do that when she had been spending the past eight years coming to resent him? Using that resentment to build herself into a new person?

"Natsu… I'm not the Lucy you once knew." she explained after a long moment of struggling to think of something to say. "The second I read that letter you left for me, the Lucy you knew died." Natsu flinched at these words as he watched her face.

"You will always be the Lucy who I care about. Who you are will never change, no matter what things you might go through. No matter how much you tell yourself that you have changed… you will always be Lucy. My Lucy."

"No…" Lucy took a step back, "I am different, I have done things… horrible things…" she trailed off as she took another step back. She wanted to run away, she needed to run away. But where could she go? There was nowhere. She was on the roof of a fairly tall building.

"I don't care what you've done, it doesn't matter! Please Luce, let me back into your life."

The blonde shook her head and took another step, only this time her foot caught on something and she yelped a little as she began to fall backwards.

Immediately she realized the mistake that she'd made.

Everything happened so quickly that she almost hadn't even had time to react to the fact that she likely would have tumbled to her death had it not been for the fact that Natsu had so quickly reached her and pulled her to him.

They sank to the ground and the tears were welling up in Lucy's chocolate orbs as she felt his warm arms tighten around her.

For how long had she been cold?

"I'm here for you Luce," Natsu said quietly, "I will never leave your side again."

That was all it took to shatter the dam.

Lucy sobbed for a long time, the tears effectively soaked through the front of Natsu's shirt as he held her.

They remained like that for a long time, hours easily passed and it wasn't until both of their stomachs began to growl that Natsu suggested they went and got something to eat. A suggestion that Lucy agreed to, despite the part of her that wanted to protect herself from the pain that stemmed from friendship and love.

However… the part of her that had yearned for Natsu's touch all these years had grown quite a bit as he'd held her.

Lucy knew that while she had been peering at him through her scope not a full two hours prior… his aim was entirely different now. She would do everything in her power to keep from losing him a second time.

She aimed for a future with him that nothing could get in the way of.


	2. Careless

Please review if you enjoy~

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He wasn't gentle with her, he never really was.

That was probably one of the things that Lucy really liked about Natsu and the relationship that she had with him. She enjoyed how he didn't treat her as though she was made of glass, how he made her feel as though she was really part of the team. Even back when she couldn't really do much to contribute when it came down to a fight.

When they started dating, that didn't really change. If anything, Natsu began to become a little bit more rough in the way that he treated her. Not that Lucy minded, she actually kind of liked how forceful he was when it came down to sharing kisses and even sleeping together.

That was all probably going to change now.

Lucy winced as she struggled to move her left arm.

"Your shoulder is dislocated," Wendy said softly as she knelt down beside the blonde who had just been rescued from falling off a cliff. Natsu had grabbed her hand and tugged her up a little bit too hard, which resulted in her current state.

"I'm surprised this kind of thing didn't happen sooner, to be honest." Lucy laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood. It worked for the majority of her team mates, though she didn't miss the fact that Natsu hadn't said a word since Wendy began to look her over.

It wasn't until Wendy did her thing and everybody was getting ready to set up camp for the night that Natsu actually moved to stand beside her. His expression was unreadable and Lucy couldn't help but feel a little anxious just by looking at him. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she eyed the rose-haired mage who wasn't saying anything.

"What is it?" She asked nervously as she watched him carefully, "You've been kinda on the quiet side since earlier. You're _never_ one to be quiet, so what's the matter?" The wind picked up for a few seconds, playing with their hair and clothing. Lucy was forced to brush back some of her blonde locks back and behind her ear so that she could continue to look at Natsu.

He was avoiding her gaze expertly.

"It's my fault that you were hurt." Natsu grimaced at his own words when he finally spoke, not appearing to enjoy the feel of them on his tongue.

Lucy blinked at him, entirely taken aback by what her friend was saying. She hadn't for a second thought of this as Natsu's fault. If anything, it was _her_ fault for falling off the cliff in the first place. She never would have expected Natsu to feel guilty over something so small.

"No it isn't. Natsu, what are you talking about? You _saved_ me. Are you feeling okay?" She made to reach towards him, though the dragon slayer stepped back before she could do so. Easily avoiding her touch. An action which immediately made Lucy feel insecure.

"Yeah it is, I pulled you up too hard. I'm always doing shit like that…" he trailed off and Lucy frowned, "I am too rough, you…" Natsu shook his head and his eyes hardened as he looked at her. "You deserve to be treated much more carefully. I don't know why I'm like this." He looked down at his hands, as though they had the answers that he needed.

"Natsu." Lucy's voice was firm, there was no way she was going to let him talk like this! Especially when what had happened was completely accidental. "Stop that, right now." Natsu's gaze was glued to the ground and she stepped forward, forcing him to look at her with her good hand. His eyes looked so pained and in turn her heart squeezed uncomfortably in her chest. "You are _never_ too rough with me."

The young man opened his mouth to reply and Lucy smacked her hand over his lips before he could manage to do so.

"I don't want to hear it," her tone was touched by anger and frustration at Natsu's stupidity. "Natsu, you have done nothing but make me feel like the most special girl in the world. I like the fact that you don't treat me like I'm weak. I understand that what just happened was an accident and frankly, I'm appalled at the fact that you would think even for a second that I'd blame you."

Natsu blinked at her before he sighed and reached up, tentatively wrapping his fingers around her wrist and slowly pulled it away from his face.

"I know, I guess I just never realized how easily I could accidentally hurt you. The last thing I ever wanna do is hurt ya, Luce." His grip on her hand tightened a bit before forcing himself to relax and smiled hesitantly, "But you're right, I know you know that I'd never hurt you. Especially not on purpose, but… are you sure you're okay with how I treat you? I dunno, I feel like everybody else treats their girlfriend… differently. More specially." Natsu's face scrunched up as he said this, it was clear to Lucy that this kind of topic made him uncomfortable. He didn't like being unsure about how he treated his girlfriend.

How he treated Lucy.

Lucy giggled a bit, taking Natsu by surprise. He hadn't expected her to react in such a way to his serious question.

"Natsu, you do treat me differently. Just not in the same way as everybody else. It's not like you'd walk up to Erza, or Cana and drag them into the pool, right? You don't drag them along with you on missions. You don't go breaking into their homes, do you?"

Natsu shook his head with flushed cheeks and Lucy laughed again.

"See? You don't need to treat me like I'm easily broken in order for me to feel special." She stretched up so that she could place a kiss on his cheek. "I love you, Natsu. You make me feel like I am the most special girl in the world, please don't ever doubt yourself. Especially when it comes to that, okay?"

Natsu's eyes softened as he pulled Lucy into his arms, mindful of her wounded shoulder.

"Yeah, alright. I guess I was being kinda dumb."

Lucy smiled as she closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Natsu's heart beat, "Kinda? More like 'extremely'." She enjoyed the sound of his laugh as she listened through his chest.

Her heart swelled, she couldn't help but believe that their relationship was perfect. She felt as though they were a match that could be written in the stars.

Perhaps she could call in a favor from the Celestial Spirit King and have that arranged.


	3. Always

This one turned out to be pretty long, I hope that you like it! Please review if you do! 3

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 _ **Is your dad being an asshole again?**_

Lucy stared at the message on the screen with red eyes and sniffled lightly at the reminder of how imperfect her family was. Anybody looking in on her life would beg to differ. In fact, it was likely that anybody who saw her right then would call her a spoiled brat. Lucy Heartfilia pretty much had everything that she could ever want or need at her fingertips. One of the many perks to being the daughter of Jude Heartfilia. A very wealthy and very powerful man who was used to pretty much always getting his way.

So when Lucy argued with him about how she was going to live her life, he never took to it very kindly. He would often threaten to take away her technology after a particularly bad fight between the two of them, which was something that Lucy certainly didn't ever want to have to worry about.

Her chats with SlayerofDragons were the only things that kept her from going insane it seemed like.

 _ **Yeah, he brought up my future again. I'm sure you can guess how that went.**_ She typed back once her fingers were able to do so and hit enter. After a moment of thought, she began to type again. _**I probably won't be able to chat long, he was pretty mad at me. Will you be able to chat tomorrow?**_

Lucy chewed on her lip anxiously as she hit send and leaned back in her desk chair, waiting for her friends response.

They'd met a few years prior on an art website and had become fast friends. Slayer was extremely talented when it came to painting, every single thing that he uploaded absolutely astonished Lucy. The two of them were almost always chatting, at least… they did so whenever the both of them could. Fortunately for Lucy, he was pretty much online all the time.

 _ **Of course, you know I'm always here to chat with you. Always.**_

His response made her smile despite the pain she still felt from the argument with her father. She really could always count on Slayer. He was the only person who was always there for her, the only person who ever seemed to truly care about how she felt. She kind of wished that she knew what he looked like, or even knew his real name. The two of them had decided when they first met that they wanted to keep their real life as far away from the fantasy of the internet world as possible.

So Lucy called him Slayer, he called her Star. Her username was StarLight, which explained where he got that nickname from. Sometimes, he even called her 'his star'. The blonde absolutely always found herself getting a bit on the flustered side whenever he resorted to the latter. It was amazing how much she could come to care about somebody whom she had never met and didn't even know what they looked like.

Lucy really didn't mind all that much when it came to showing herself, she actually thought that she was a little bit on the pretty side. Her self-confidence was relatively high, though she was quick to accept Slayer's proposition when they first met. He'd said that if they ever were to meet in real life, it should be the first time that they laid eyes on one another. That they should introduce themselves for the first time with their real names in person as well. Lucy did believe that it felt a lot more genuine that way.

 _ **I'll message you later then, talk to you tomorrow.**_

Slayer wished her a goodnight before she signed out of the messenger and swiveled in her chair so that she was facing her bed. It was still pretty early, though she wasn't exactly feeling like doing anything in particular and the fluffiness of her bed was looking particularly enticing right that moment.

So the blonde turned in for the night. The next morning, the very first thing Lucy did was message Slayer before hurrying downstairs to prepare a bowl of cereal that she could eat in her room. She was shocked to see that her father was home and sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper in one hand and a cup of black coffee in the other. He didn't even look up from the black and white paper when he addressed her.

"We're meeting with your fiance today," he practically growled. It was clear that he had not forgotten about their argument either, "I suggest you do what you need to in order to look presentable." He took a sip of his coffee and completely ignored the look of appalled shock that was painted across Lucy's face as she stopped pouring the Lucky Charms into a bowl that she'd grabbed when she first entered the kitchen. "If you aren't down here by noon in your nicest dress, I'm sure you can guess what will happen."

The tears were back full force despite the fact that Lucy had been convinced that she'd cried herself dry the night prior. She gritted her teeth before she spun on her heel and abandoned the cereal as she hurried back to her room. Slayer hadn't yet replied, though Lucy's fingers flew across the keyboard without even a moment of hesitation.

 _ **I know that you're probably still asleep, but I just wanted to let you know that I probably won't be online much today. I'll message you as soon as I get home, I will probably want to rant. I hope that's okay!**_

Lucy blinked quickly in an attempt to keep the tears from filling her eyes before she turned from the computer and wiped at the tears that spilled despite her attempts to keep from actually crying.

There were still a couple hours before it would be noon, though if she wanted to look her best it could take a little while. Especially since she was going to need to get her hairdresser, Cancer, to come and do her hair after she took a shower and got dressed.

As much as she hated the situation she was in, Lucy didn't have much of a choice. She was seventeen and she did live under her father's roof. He gave her pretty much everything that she could ever need, she really didn't want to be ungrateful. But why did she have to be pawned off like some kind of item that her father owned? It just didn't seem very fair.

Lucy had always been a bit of a romantic, and as of late… she'd begun to find that she was really starting to develop feelings towards Slayer. She _knew_ that it was irrational. She _knew_ that. But she didn't care.

The hours to noon went by in the blink of an eye as servants helped her get ready. They were all just as anxious about her situation as the blonde herself. Lucy was heavily loved within the walls of her home when it came to her 'servants'. Though she'd always seen them as her friends, no matter how often her father would correct her if she referred to them in a familiar way.

She really didn't care too much for her father and his entitled behavior. Really, she hated it. She wished that he didn't have to try and push that kind of personality onto her, because there was no way she would _ever_ act that way.

Lucy missed her mother.

Jude Heartfilia had been a completely different person when Layla Heartfilia was still alive. Then again, that was a long time ago. Back when Lucy was around five years old. She'd been living with his coldness for so many years now, she supposed that she should be used to it all by now. But she wasn't. She didn't think she'd ever be okay with how her father treated her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually seen the silver-haired man smile.

Lucy stared at herself through the full body mirror that she had hanging on the wall that was at the end of her walk-in closet.

She had never looked so much like her mother before. Her hair was done up in a very Layla-esque style, she suspected that Jude had given Cancer a picture to go off of before he sent the dark-skinned hairdresser to Lucy's room.

Even the dress was more like something that her mother would have worn. It was big and very frilly, definitely not something that Lucy would have chosen to wear had she been given the option to decide on her attire that day. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that her father was going to be very happy when he sees her, not that he'd actually show that kind of emotion when Lucy was in the room.

Doing what she could to swallow the bitterness that was beginning to reach her facial expression, Lucy sighed and turned to face Spetto who was touching her cheek with a reminiscent look on her face.

"You look beautiful, Miss Lucy. A spitting image of your mother, truly." She offered a small smile up at the blonde, "Are you ready to meet with your father? I'm sure he is getting impatient, you know how your father can get."

Lucy nodded her head and squared her shoulders. If she was going to actually meet her fiance, she wanted to make sure he knew that she didn't like the forced arrangement.

"Let's get his over with," she muttered before she carefully brushed past Spetto and began the trip downstairs. A trip that was made a lot more complex because of the bothersome length and width of her pink dress. She already couldn't wait to get back home and rip the thing off and change into a cozy pair of sweats with a cup of hot chocolate.

She couldn't wait to get back to Slayer, she wanted to talk to him so badly. She really needed to tell him how dead-set her father was on arranging a marriage for her, but Lucy was scared that he would leave if she told him that.

She was scared that he would no longer be interested in somebody whose freedom would practically be signed away.

Her anger and frustration turned into something akin to smugness when she saw the mildly shocked expression on Jude's face once she finally got downstairs. As she expected, he turned away from her before the look on his face could give anything away.

"It's about time, let's get moving. They are waiting for us."

Lucy glared at her father's back before she followed him outside and to one of the many cars that her father owned. Capricorn was already in the driver's seat, he nodded to the two in acknowledgment. He already knew the directions to their destination it seemed.

Lucy pouted the entire drive there. Her father would speak and she would only glare out the window, the reality of the engagement was staggering. By the time they finally came to a halt outside a manor that rivaled the size of theirs, Lucy found that she was having a difficult time breathing.

Capricorn got out and opened the door for her, helping the blonde out of the car when it became clear that she needed the assistance.

Each step Lucy took from that point on made her feel as though she were walking her final steps on death row. She knew that she was being overly dramatic, though she couldn't help it. She cared about Slayer so much… she felt as though this would hurt him.

She resented everything about what was happening.

Before they even reached the front door, it was being pulled open by somebody who Lucy could only assume was one of the servants. The man had long, dark hair and he bowed respectably with a hand over his heart.

"Welcome, my Lord has been expecting your arrival. Allow me to escort you to his office, that is where you will be meeting your fiancee."

Lucy nodded and held her head high as they walked forward.

Once they made it to another large door, the servant knocked three times before a voice from the inside gave permission to enter.

To Lucy, it felt as though the servant then pushed the door open at a ridiculously slow pace. She could feel her heart leap into her throat as it began to quicken its pace.

The first person she noticed was a man with dark hair, he wore robes that felt a little bit out dated. Though the smile on his face helped to distract from the strange attire. Something about it felt a bit on the… soothing side?

The second person quickly drew her attention though.

His hair was _pink_. He had _pink_ hair.

He looked just as pleased about the situation as she did. His arms were folded across his chest and was glaring out the window.

Despite her better judgement, she couldn't help but find him attractive. He was _very_ attractive and Lucy felt guilty for even thinking so as her mind immediately returned to Slayer. As it did, she felt her frustration begin to return.

Which she was thankful for. This was bad, it didn't matter how attractive the pink-haired guy was. What was happening was _bad_.

"Hello," The dark haired man greeted, his smile not wavering despite the very unfriendly air that filled the room. "Its nice to finally meet you, Miss Lucy. My name is Zeref Dragneel, this young man is Natsu Dragneel. He is my younger brother."

Lucy looked back to her 'fiance' just as he looked over from the window.

Her cheeks flushed when she watched his eyes widen in surprise.

"Why don't you take Miss Heartfilia through our gardens? That way the two of you can get to know each other a little bit while I speak to Mr. Heartfilia about the arrangements that will need to be made." Zeref suggested.

Natsu grunted before he gestured for Lucy to follow him and shoved his hands into his pockets as they began to walk.

For a long while, the two of them were silent. Though Lucy certainly took notice in how quickly the young man pulled out his cellphone the second they left the room. She watched him periodically check it and put it back in his pocket.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Lucy said genuinely after watching him check his phone for the fourth time since they began walking together, "Whats her name?"

Natsu's head whipped so that he was looking at her now, his eyes were wide in surprise before he frowned. "It's not like this is your fault," he said after a long moment of thought, "my brother has been going on about something like this happening for a long time now. I'm pretty sure you're not too happy about all of this either, so you don't need to apologize."

Even as he spoke, his eyes moved down to his phone screen once more.

Lucy could feel herself begin to relax a little bit when she heard his response, it was good to know that he really was in the same position as her. It even seemed as though he was interested in somebody else, that was the only explanation she could think of anyway.

"You look worried," she observed as they exited the building and walked into the garden that Zeref had mentioned. "Is something the matter?"

Natsu looked at her once more before he sighed and pocketed his phone and ran a hand back through his spiky hair. "Just this girl… she is going through some stuff right now. I'm waiting for her to message me back, though I have a feeling I'm not going to hear from her until tonight." He cut his gaze towards her and he watched her curiously. "Why do you ask? There is no way you actually care."

Lucy frowned at him before looking away.

"You just remind me of myself, I guess. I am pretty much attached at the hip to my phone, I'd probably be doing the same thing right now had my father not been sure to confiscate my phone before we left." Her heart ached when she thought about Slayer. He was probably awake by now, probably worried about her.

"Yeah?" Natsu asked, a bit of interest leaking into his tone as he watched her curiously. "I pretty much use mine for the sole purpose of keeping in touch with somebody in particular. I don't just play games or anything like that."

Lucy glared at him, "The same goes for me! I don't play games either." She folded her arms, "I'd much rather be talking to him right now. Unlike you, he actually cares about talking to me." she scoffed before shrugging her shoulders, "He always…" Lucy winced when she remembered who she was talking to and visibly deflated as she sighed.

"Always?" He questioned, as though the word meant something to him and Lucy looked up and blinked when she saw the intense look on Natsu's face. "He is always there to talk to you?"

Lucy swallowed before she nodded hesitantly.

Then he said something that she never would have expected anybody other than one person to actually say to her.

"... Star?" He sounded uncertain, and he was quiet. His cheeks flushed, clearly embarrassed by the question and Lucy's eyes widened in shock. She probably would have fallen over had it not been for the fact that he reached out and steadied her with strong hands when he noticed her tipping.

"S-Slayer?" she barely managed to choke out.

"Mavis…" Natsu dropped his phone and threw his arms around the blonde and his scent of pine and campfire attacked her senses as he held her close.

"I've wanted to do this for so long…" he whispered into her hair. "I never would have actually imagined it to happen so soon…"

Lucy's lower lip began to tremble as she felt tears silently fall from her eyes.

It appeared as though miracles really did happen, happy endings were actually achievable.

Lucy's heart swelled with joy as she laughed and returned Natsu's hug with as much strength as she could manage.

She would _always_ treasure this moment.


	4. Detachable

Please review if you like ittt

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"That's so cool," Natsu mused with wide eyes as he watched Lucy carefully re-attach her prosthetic arm after showing the pink-haired young man how it worked. She couldn't help but feel a little bit embarrassed because of the intensity behind Natsu's eyes, though she also couldn't help but also feel a little better about herself when it came to her arm now.

She'd always thought that her prosthetic arm was such a turnoff, especially when it came to dating. Though Natsu's interest in her only seemed to grow when he realized it.

"What happened?" He asked hesitantly, though Lucy wasn't bothered by the question. She'd already told this story practically a hundred times.

"I was swimming in the ocean and sorta ran into a hungry shark, that's all." She shrugged as though it was no big deal, though Natsu's jaw dropped open. He certainly hadn't been expecting an answer like that! He couldn't help but feel his admiration for Lucy spike a bit. She had to be one tough cookie in order to survive a shark attack!

"That's so crazy! I bet that must have been scary," he frowned when a thought occurred to him. "Were you right handed?"

Lucy sighed before she nodded slowly, "Yeah. Its pretty hard for me to write now. And I had a tattoo on my hand that I actually really cared about… so that kind of sucked." she smiled again before she could let her feelings on the matter get to her too much. "But I'm alive! That's what really matters, right?"

Natsu blinked before he laughed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right! If you weren't alive right now, I wouldn't be on such a date with such an interesting person. I guess I'm gonna have to thank Gray for setting this one up." He laughed a bit and Lucy giggled before she reached over and picked up her glass of water, quickly taking a sip.

She could tell already that she was going to have to thank Gray as well.

Natsu was definitely not like any guy that she'd ever been with. He hardly batted an eye when he noticed the fact that her hand wasn't real.

Gray had told her that he wouldn't care, though Lucy always found that so hard to believe until she met that person herself. Though he'd definitely been right about Natsu.

"Did you maybe wanna go to a movie after this? Or go out again sometime soon? I'd like to get to know you a little bit more, Luce."

The blonde blinked at the nickname before she smiled brightly and nodded.

"I'd really like that too," she said after a moment, "I hear Fairy Tail is in theaters now!"

Natsu's eyes glimmered at the mention of Fairy Tail, "I knew you'd be a keeper."


	5. Pilot

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When Lucy Heartfilia first became a flight attendant, she already was taking steps towards becoming somebody that her younger self never would have ever imagined.

As a little girl, Lucy had a pretty serious fear of heights after her mother died because of a plane crash. That fear carried on into her young adult life, though she knew that it was something she needed to overcome. Which was exactly why she began to work towards becoming somebody who would need to be up high very often.

When she told her father that she was going to become a flight attendant, he thought that she was telling him a cruel joke. Once he realized that his daughter was serious, he became angry.

They got into a big fight and Lucy wound up getting kicked out of her home.

Which wasn't a big deal, because she'd been meaning to find a place closer to the school that she'd need to attend in order to learn all of the necessary skills that went hand in hand with being a flight attendant. Getting kicked out only sped up that process.

She'd been seventeen at that time, fresh outta high school.

Now, at twenty-four… Lucy had long since abandoned her fear of heights and actually somewhat enjoyed flying. She was pretty good at her job as well, the pilots of the planes that she attended on were always more than happy to have her on board.

It was only when turbulence was particularly bad that Lucy would freeze up a little, though by now… she had even gotten used to some of the worst of turbulence cases.

"I really don't think you should attend that flight, Lucy." The blonde's best friend Levy said seriously as they prepared in the attendents only room.

Pulling her shirt up and over her head, the young woman shot a look of curiosity towards the bluenette. "Why would you say that? You know that I've been wanting to attend on a Fairy Tail Airlines for a long time now, I finally have the opportunity!" She puffed out her cheeks as she grabbed her shampoo,conditioner, and body soap from the locker that she habitually kept very nicely stocked in case one of her co-workers needed some

She always loved returning to the base so that she could shower with her preferred soaps.

"No, I know Lu! But…" There was a touch of hesitance to her friends tone that was beginning to make Lucy feel uncomfortable. Why would Lucy flying on Fairy Tail be such a big deal? She knew that Levy wouldn't be saying any of this if it wasn't for a really good reason. "You've really come a seriously long way from when we both started, its amazing! I remember when you'd have a hard time just walking while in the air." Levy offered a smile at her friend, trying to ignore the very obvious difference in their busts now that they were both topless. "But I think you'd still have a bit of a rough time on Fairy Tail."

Lucy was surprised by the reminder of how she used to be back when they first started, "Wait, you're saying that just flying on Fairy Tail will make me bad again? Why do you think so?" Lucy was more curious than angry about the accusation.

Before Levy could say any more on the matter, there was a few 'dings' over the intercom that let them know that they needed to hurry if they wanted to be showered and look appropriate for their respective flights. So the two had to hurry with their showers and weren't able to talk again before Lucy was hurrying towards gate seven.

She was sure that Levy was just over thinking, she had the tendency to do that. Especially when it came to her best friend.

Before every flight, Lucy liked to speak a little bit with the crew that she'd be working with. Since she'd never flown with Fairy Tail before… she wanted to make sure to give a very good impression! Fortunately, she was able to get there before they'd even begun passenger boarding.

"Hey, you must be Lucy." The blonde smiled at the dark haired man who had just opened the plane's door, he stepped aside so that she could cross the threshold between the walkway and the plane. "Its nice to meet you, I'm Gray Fullbuster. The co-pilot, it's nice to meet you."

Already she could tell that Levy was wrong.

"Its nice to meet you too, I'm happy to have the chance to fly with you guys! I've kind of always wanted to attend on a Fairy Tail flight, I've heard such great things about you guys." This drew a low chuckle from the young man and he shrugged.

"I guess we're pretty cool, hopefully you'll decide to stick around. We've been needing another permanent member on our crew, so if you're okay after your first flight with us… we'd be more than happy to have you stick around."

Lucy's jaw dropped, she couldn't believe this was happening! She'd been on the plane itself for not even a full minute and she was already being offered a full-time position on this plane's crew? Dreams really did come true!

For a long time, Lucy had just been a floater. She'd go wherever she was needed, though recently… she'd begun to want to actually stick to one crew. Sure she loved meeting new people and making new friends, though it could be a little bit tiresome after such a long time of doing it.

Though by now, Lucy was pretty familiar with most of the people who worked at the Fiore Airport.

"Gray, you're going to scare her off by talking like that right off the bat." A stern voice sounded and Lucy turned to see a stunningly beautiful woman approach them, she looked as though she was sporting a stereotypical flight attendant look with how daring her outfit was. It was probably borderline appropriate for the job. If that skirt were just an inch shorter, Lucy was positive she'd see panties.

"C'mon Erza, I'm just trying to be friendly." Gray grumbled before he turned on his heel and headed towards the cockpit when the woman glared at him.

"We all get a little bit excited at the prospect of a new team member," she said as she turned her attention onto Lucy, she smiled apologetically. "They all promised to be on their best behavior though, so hopefully you won't go crazy. This flight will be a long one." She then held her hand out, "My name is Erza Scarlet, it is nice to meet you Lucy."

The blonde took Erza's offered hand and gave it a bit of a shake, did they all know her name? She couldn't help but wonder why it would be so shocking for them to get another member. Didn't _everybody_ want to fly with Fairy Tail? Levy had been flying with Fairy Tail for a long time now and she always spoke highly of her flights and crew members.

"Now you've just got to meet our Pilot and other attendant. She is pretty new to the field, though she's been really great so far. I'm sure that you will like her."

"Oh, is this Lucy?" A sweet voice asked from behind Lucy, causing the blonde to turn and lock eyes with a sapphire haired girl. She was young, she couldn't be much older than eighteen or nineteen. She could definitely be younger, what were the age requirements again?

Lucy was still thinking about this when the girl bounced over and happily took Lucy's hand in her own, "It's so nice to meet you Lucy! I hope that we can become good friends." She spoke boldly, though Lucy could sense shyness behind those words. This girl was such a sweetie! It was impossible to not like her right off of the bat, especially with such a warm welcome.

"Geez," Lucy laughed a bit, "You guys are the most friendly crew I've stumbled across so far."

Erza chuckled a bit at this and Wendy excused herself so that she could triple check the emergency exit doors at the back of the plane and Lucy watched her go before she jumped a little when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She blinked at Erza questioningly and the redhead smiled, "Time to meet the pilot."

Lucy nodded before following Erza to the cockpit, she blinked in surprise when she could hear the muffled sound of arguing from behind the thick door. Erza tensed when she heard it as well and Lucy watched with amazement when she pulled that door open so quickly that Lucy thought for sure that she'd rip it right off of the hinges.

The arguing almost immediately stopped and Lucy watched as Gray and a pink-haired man stared at Erza with wide and terrified eyes.

"I know I didn't just hear you guys getting into it, especially not when we've got a new attendant with us today." Erza's voice was terrifyingly low and Lucy could feel goosebumps begin to rise on her arms. What an amazing shift in personality! Lucy knew immediately that she would never want to get on the bad side of Erza, there was something just so… scary about her.

"Of course not!" The pink-haired man said in a high pitched voice, "We're just the best of friends, right Gray?" He asked loudly as he threw his arm around Gray's neck in a friendly manner.

"Yeah, great friends!" Gray then mimicked the other man's actions and the two began to bounce up and down as if to prove that this were true.

Erza groaned lightly before she gestured to Luzy, "Natsu. This is Lucy, the new flight attendant that Makarov assigned to us."

At the words, Natsu's eyes locked on Lucy. It was clear that he was only just noticing her and he walked forward with a grin on his face, "Oh cool! She looks like she'll be a lot of fun! I can tell you're gonna fit right in with us Lucy!"

The small group laughed a little bit before they began to make all of the necessary preparations so that all of the passengers could begin the boarding process. It didn't take long since most of the preparations had already been completed by the time that Lucy had arrived.

Before too much more time could pass, people began to take their seats based on the tickets that they had, soon they had a full plane and Erza was beginning the explanation that had to go down before all flights. She had the eyes of most the males on her and Lucy was a bit shocked by how captivating her voice was. The other woman was very easy to listen to.

"Pretty great, huh?" Lucy jumped a bit in surprise and spun on her heel to see Natsu watching her from the doorway of the cockpit. His arms were folded across his chest and that ever present smile was really beginning to make Lucy's heart flutter a bit in her chest. "Erza is an incredible speaker, she gives me the greatest pep talks before the flight. Sometimes she can convince me that my motion sickness will go away for good."

Lucy blinked in surprise at this statement.

A pilot with motion sickness? That definitely didn't sound like a good thing.

"Motion sickness?" Lucy forced herself to laugh a little, trying to conceal her sudden uneasiness. "How can a pilot be motion sick? Wouldn't that make flying a little bit difficult for you?"

Natsu shrugged as though this was no big deal, though Lucy could already feel herself becoming less and less thrilled about this.

She soon discovered that the young man's flying was absolutely awful. If it wasn't for Gray half the time, Lucy was positive that they would have died. All of the passengers seemed to agree as they all hurried off the plane practically the second that the door opened.

"Are you alright?" Wendy asked Lucy, concern shining in her big brown eyes. "You seemed a little bit distressed during the flight, I wanted to warn you. But Erza was worried that you'd run away if you knew about it."

Lucy swallowed anxiously before she ran a hand through her slightly mussed hair.

Before she could say anything, the cockpit flew open and Natsu came sprawling out. Somehow, he managed to look even worse for wear than Lucy herself.

His face was a shade that she'd never seen on a living human being before and she instinctively hurried to kneel down by his side. He grinned at her weakly, "How'd you like it?" he asked in such a completely innocent voice that Lucy didn't have the heart to tell him how she really felt.

Instead she smiled softly and brushed some of his matted hair from his forehead. He hadn't been joking when he said that he got motion sick, if Lucy didn't know any better… she would have believed that he'd come down with some kind of cold or stomach flu. "It was great, I look forward to working with you guys more often. I can tell I'm really going to enjoy it."

Natsu seemed happy to hear these words and he carefully stood up before holding his hand out so that he could help Lucy up.

"Welcome to team Natsu, Luce!"

Lucy blinked at the hand before she looked up at Natsu's grinning face. A smile touched her lips as she took his hand and nodded, "yeah!"


	6. Hideout

I'd like to thank 31 and booklover551 for reviewing. Your words mean the world to me, its really tough to keep something like this up without any feed back xD So I really appreciate it!

Please be sure to review if you enjoy this

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"Are you sure this is safe?" A very young and very scared Lucy Heartfilia asked as she followed her best friend closely through the woods. The sun was still out, though it was impossible to tell due to the denseness of the trees. Lucy could hardly see a thing, even if she squinted.

"Yeah I'm sure! Quit being such a baby, we're almost there." Natsu huffed as he pushed aside the brush of some tall bushes so that the two of them could get through without getting scratched up too badly. Once she was through as well, he let go of the foliage and they continued on their way.

To the little girl, it felt as though they'd been walking forever. Though truthfully, it couldn't have been longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. Lucy just wasn't used to walking through dark and scary places without an adult present.

Her fear certainly contributed to her disability to remember how long they'd been out there.

Just when Lucy had been about to start crying, they finally broke through the trees and managed to come upon a clearing. It was beautiful and Lucy immediately ran forward, excitement lighting up her formerly fear filled chocolate brown eyes.

In this area, the sunlight peeked through the gap in the forests leaves. So it was very nicely lit compared to the rest of the forest.

"I _told_ you we were getting close," Natsu folded his arms across his chest, though he smiled as he watched the blonde as she began to chase a beautiful blue butterfly around. It was a pretty big clearing, the grass was up to their knees in some places, though what really drew Natsu to this place was the massive tree that stood right in the center of the field.

He walked over to that while Lucy now began to busy herself in playing with the log blades of grass. When she noticed what he was looking at, she hurried over as well.

"This place is really neat, Natsu! How did you know about it?" She asked as she sat down at the base of the tree, cushioned right between a couple of large roots that peeked out of the ground just a little bit. "I bet Zeref doesn't know you've been coming out here."

Natsu scoffed, though didn't say anything. Which told the little girl all she needed to know.

Natsu had always been kinda like that, her parents didn't much care for the thought of their little girl playing with such a rough boy. Though Lucy didn't care, she had so much fun when she was with Natsu! She was always so lonely whenever she was at home.

"This can be our hideout." Natsu said after a long moment, "If we ever need to meet up but can't at our usual place, we can meet here. If either of us ever needs to get out and go somewhere else, we can go here." Lucy listened carefully to her friend as he spoke. She watched his face and didn't miss the flicker of sadness that touched it when he thought she wasn't looking.

"What's the matter?" she found herself asking quietly, immediately catching Natsu's attention. He sighed before shrugging and plopping down beside her.

"Zeref has just… been kinda sad lately. I guess it's been making me sad too. He never wants to talk about it because I'm 'too young' to understand. But… I just wanna help. It makes me kinda angry that he doesn't want to listen to me, or let me listen to him. So I found this place, I can't wait to show you what happens when it gets dark."

Lucy recognized the change of subject, though she wanted to talk more about Natsu. She wanted to tell him that she was there to listen to him, and he already knew that she was more than happy to talk about how angry her mother and father made her sometimes. How she was so sick of the lessons that they forced her to take in addition to normal studies.

She was only eight, though she felt as though they expected the world of her. It made her so angry. Despite this, Lucy did love her mother and father dearly. So she never really outwardly showed how frustrated all of these lessons made her.

If it weren't for Natsu and how he'd let her vent… she probably would be a very upset child that would snap on her parents one day. It made her sad that he was feeling sad.

"When do you need to get home?" Natsu asked before Lucy could actually try and say something that she was thinking.

She felt guilty for being so slow to speak, though she cleared her throat so that she could answer his question. "I'm not supposed to be out after dark, I don't think they know I'm even out. I'm supposed to be in my room reading right now." she giggled a bit at the thought.

Lucy loved to read, though with the schedule that her parents had her on… there would be zero time for her to actually play if she followed it exactly as they wanted her to. Thankfully, both of them were a little bit on the busy side when it came to their own jobs and everything, so it was mostly Spetto who took care to make sure that Lucy was doing what she was supposed to.

Spetto knew that Lucy was playing right now. The older woman believed that the Heartfilia's were a little bit too hard on the girl, so she allowed for these short playdates with Natsu.

"Well, we can stay just a little bit longer. I think you're going to love this place even more when you see what happens once it gets completely dark."

Lucy could feel herself getting excited, especially when she realized that the area was already darkening quite a bit.

Soon, she knew exactly what Natsu was talking about.

Little glowing orbs of light began to flicker around them, soon… the entire area was filled with the fireflies.

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed happily as she jumped up from where she'd been sitting. "I've never seen so many fireflies before!" There wasn't a second that passed that was without the light of at least five or sick fireflies. All of a sudden, this clearing felt like the most magical place on earth.

"Natsu, I'm so happy you found this place!" She said happily once she caught one of the fireflies and brought it over so that she could show the pink-haired boy. He smiled and watched as the firefly she caught flew from Lucy's hands and landed on her nose.

She blinked in surprise which caused Natsu to start laughing loudly at her, which made her laugh as well. The bug then flew from her nose to join the rest of its buddies.

"Natsu…" Lucy trailed off as she watched her friend for a long moment, he turned his gaze onto her. "Let's get married."

The boy nearly face planted into the ground after she said this, though quickly recovered.

"What?!" he demanded, his cheeks beet red.

"If we get married, we can be together all the time. Every day. I could make sure that you don't ever need to be sad, I wanna do that for you." She puffed out her flat chest and put her hands on her hips, "Besides, you'd be _lucky_ to have me when we're older. I'm going to be just as beautiful as my mama." Of course, she didn't truly believe that.

She didn't think it was possible for anybody to be as pretty as her mother.

Natsu swallowed nervously, though appeared to actually be taking her words into consideration before he grinned and nodded.

"Okay, fine! Let's do it! We'll get married right here, under this tree. How about when we're both eighteen? That way we won't have our parents on our backs about it." he chuckled and Lucy nodded in agreement, liking the idea and simply thrilled that he had accepted her proposal in the first place.

"How about on my eighteenth birthday then?" Lucy suggested, "We'd both be eighteen by then." Her heart flipped when Natsu agreed again.

That was exactly what they did.


	7. Confused

I'd like to thank booklover551 and MagicFangirlHS for reviewing that last chapter, I appreciate it a lot! I'm glad you're enjoying these oneshots!

Please be sure to review if you like this~

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Natsu didn't really understand what was happening, though he could tell that something was… off. He just couldn't tell what exactly was making him feel this way.

Perhaps it was the way that everybody averted their eyes when Natsu entered the guild, what kind of greeting was that? He'd been gone a pretty long time! A whole _year_! Why weren't they more excited? He couldn't help but feel as though he deserved a little bit more than hesitant 'hellos'.

Though he supposed that there were a few faced among the crowd that he didn't recognize, he shouldn't really be surprised that the guild had grown a bit while he was away. Fairy Tail had managed to become even more popular during the year that he was off training. Most of that probably involved the fact that he hadn't been around to destroy things.

That had definitely boosted their morale.

Finally, he spotted a familiar head of black hair by the bar and Natsu was surprised to feel himself light up so much in response to seeing his long-time rival.

"Gray!" Natsu exclaimed as he threw an arm over the ice mage's shoulder. "Been awhile, huh? Why is everybody acting so weird?" Natsu looked around as he said this, entirely oblivious to the look of complete shock that Gray was giving him.

"Natsu," Gray said, recovering before Natsu could look at him again. He shrugged off the fire mage's arm before he actually turned to face him. "Where have you been? A whole year without so much as a letter? What the hell is up with that? What if we needed to get ahold of you, Natsu?" Gray's words were angry, though he wasn't saying them strongly enough to actually convey that frustration.

Gray was not happy about this development, why did Erza have to be away right now?

"What are you talking about Gray? I left one with Lucy! I'm positive she would have shown you guys." Natsu's eyebrows were furrowed with confusion before he looked around again, "Have you seen Lucy yet, Happy?" Natsu then asked the little blue cat that was floating nearby.

"No," Happy said with a look on his face that vastly conflicted with his given name, "Maybe she is at her apartment."

Gray flinched at the cat's words before he shook his head, "You're not going to find Lucy." He said seriously, taking both the cat and the dragon slayer by surprise. Both eyes were on Gray. In fact, practically the whole guild had stopped what they were doing to listen to the conversation that was going on between Gray and the two who had just returned from a journey of sorts.

"What do you mean we're not gonna find Lucy?" Natsu asked with a frown as he folded his arms across his chest, "We've got some souvenirs that we need to give her. Did she go on a mission? I haven't seen Erza or Wendy yet either, I guess I should have guessed that something like that was going on." He turned to Happy, "We definitely should have walked then, to think that we were in such a hurry and Lucy isn't even _here_." Natsu groaned as he ran a hand back through his grown out hair.

He supposed he could get that cut before Lucy returned, that was a bit of an upside.

"No, she didn't go on a mission Natsu." Gray sounded slightly annoyed, though there was another emotion there that Natsu couldn't quite read.

"What the hell Gray? You just said that I wasn't going to find Lucy at her apartment, where is she if she isn't on a job? Why are you acting all weird? Why is everybody acting all weird?!" Natsu was yelling now, he was losing his patience! All he wanted was to find Lucy, he had missed her pretty badly during the journey that he and Happy had embarked on.

He'd really wanted to write, though at the same time… he really needed to focus as much as possible on the training that he'd been doing.

Natsu was strong, though he needed to become even stronger if he wanted to protect the future that he now knew he needed to achieve.

Igneel wanted him to speak of his future in order for it to become his will to live. So that was exactly what he did, practically every day he would talk to Happy about the things he would do once they finally reunited with Lucy. If Natsu was certain about anything, it was that Lucy was the future that he had to look forward to. Happy thought so too, he was always thrilled to talk about the blonde.

Neither one of them got tired of it.

"Natsu… I think you should sit down." Gray said as he gestured to the stool that he'd been standing beside before he turned to look at Kinana who had been watching with furrowed eyebrows. "I think you should go get Mira." Meanwhile, Natsu was standing there with an extremely confused expression on his face as he watched the interaction.

"Why do you think I should sit down? I'm fine standing, I sat on the train for a couple hours. I don't wanna sit down." He looked at Happy, who donned a concerned expression that the dragon slayer had been about to question when Gray's sigh caught his attention instead. "What is going on Gray?" Natsu's voice was low now, clearly he wasn't happy about all of the secrecy.

"I really didn't want to be the one to tell you this, Natsu... " Gray sighed once more as he ran a hand back through his hair, "Lucy got sick while you were gone. She uh… she said that it was the same thing that her mother had, there wasn't anything that Porlyusica could do."

For a long moment, Natsu was silent as he struggled to comprehend what it was that Gray was saying to him.

A smile cracked across the fire mage's face and he slapped Gray on the back, effectively taking the other young man by surprise. "I'm not so sure I understand why you think that kind of thing is funny, but hey… I can appreciate a joke! But really, where is Lucy? I am trying to be cool about all of this suspense, but it's pretty difficult."

Gray swallowed nervously, though thankfully, Mira just arrived. She hurried over and pulled Natsu into her arms, pushing his head into her chest as she pet his hair. The young man was too stunned by the suddenness of the action in order to react properly, though it appeared as though he didn't even need to.

Happy burst into tears as he landed on the bar's counter.

"I'm so sorry," Mira said in a completely genuine voice, a voice that could definitely not be playing a joke on them. "We all knew this day would come, though I don't think any of us was actually prepared to have this talk with you."

"H-Hey… don't you think this joke has gone on long enough?" Natsu said as he struggled to pull himself from Mira's arms, though her grip on him was strong. Almost like a vice, as though she were using some magic in order to keep him there. "Lucy isn't gone, I don't think that's a very nice thing to joke about so much." The rose-haired young man was confused by pretty much everything that was happening. He was especially confused over Happy, why was he crying?

"Natsu, none of us would joke about something like this." Mira said firmly, "It started about six months ago, we tried to find you. We tried find anybody who might have seen you… but we couldn't. Lucy didn't want you to feel bad either, she wrote you a letter."

 _She wrote you a letter._

These words struck Natsu hard, all of a sudden he couldn't breath. It felt as though some kind of unknown being was sucking the air from out of his lungs. He gasped roughly and would have fallen to his knees if it weren't for the hold that Mira had on him. She carefully lowered him to the ground and took a few steps back when he was on his knees.

This absolutely wasn't happening. There was no way! Lucy couldn't be gone. That wasn't possible! Not when he'd been working so hard to become stronger for her, for _them_.

"You're lying…" he whispered as he stared at the palms of his hands. He watched himself tremble and he knew that there were too many emotions running through his veins in order for him to control himself, though he was struggling very hard to keep from exploding. It took all of his energy to contain the flames that were itching to be released into the guild hall.

"You're lying!" He screamed as his gaze finally returned to Mira, her eyebrows were furrowed and he could recognize understanding within her tear filled azure orbs. He recognized sympathy. It was an expression that he knew held not a single drop of deceit. Though that didn't make the dragon slayer feel even a little bit better about what was happening.

He _wanted_ her to be lying.

"I've been uh… I've been holding onto yours for safekeeping." Gray said from behind him. The sound of his rivals voice managed to help calm Natsu down a bit, though his wide eyes began to tear up when he saw the little envelope that Gray was offering to Natsu.

His and Happy's names were written on the front of it in penmanship that Natsu could never mistake as anybody other than Lucy's.

Natsu shakily took the envelope and could feel Happy leaping onto his shoulder so that he could see better.

More careful than Natsu had ever been with anything in his entire life, he began to open the envelope. He didn't want to ruin the memento that Lucy had left for him, no matter how eager he was to read the contents of the letter.

Once he finally got to the paper inside, he pulled it out and immediately began to read.

 _Dear Natsu and Happy,_

 _I know that you are probably a little bit shocked to receive something like this. Especially when I'm sure you've only just gotten back. I'm sorry that you have to return to such depressing news, I wish more than anything that I could change that. I really wanted to make your return to Magnolia and Fairy Tail beautiful! I wanted there to be balloons and torches everywhere!_

 _I don't think I'm going to be able to do that though. I haven't even been able to leave my bed for a couple weeks now, if it weren't for these letters that I've been writing… I'm pretty sure I'd have gone crazy a long time ago! I've written to every single person in the guild, and even to a couple of others who aren't in Fairy Tail. I really wanted to save the letter for you and Happy for last. You two were so vital to my journey, you two are the reason that I was able to join Fairy Tail in the first place!_

 _I will forever be grateful for that. The time that I spent with you was so incredibly precious to me, I wouldn't trade it for a single thing in this world._

 _I need you to know that I love you guys, I love you so much it actually hurts sometimes. While I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss you while you were gone… I don't want you to feel bad about it. It's natural to miss somebody who you care about, especially if they are away! I don't want you to feel bad for not being here, I'm kind of glad you weren't… to be honest. I have not been very pleasant to look at or be around lately and the last thing I ever want is for you to be upset._

 _I know that there really isn't any way to actually prevent you from being upset right now… but to have you go through the pain of watching me die? Yeah, I'm really glad you weren't here. Everybody tries to hide it, but I can see how sad they are. I can see the pain that I'm putting them through, I know that they never meant for me to feel this way. They just care, they love me too. Gray spends the most time with me, isn't that surprising? I always knew he cared, I guess this just proves that you never truly know what another person is thinking or feeling unless they say or do something._

 _Natsu… Happy… I just want to make sure that the both of you know that I care very much about you and your happiness. I really don't want you to be sad about this for too long, I hope that is possible, I really want you to keep on smiling. I'm really sorry if that's a lot to ask, please don't worry too much._

 _Go on lots of adventures for me, 'kay?_

 _Love,_

 _Lucy_

The paper was shaking so much by the time Natsu finished reading that it was almost impossible to actually read the words that were written out so delicately. He had to actually set the paper down on the ground so that he didn't accidentally crumple it or burn it to a crisp.

"She wasn't unhappy," Gray said quietly, "I know that probably doesn't make you feel a ton better right now, but in the end… she continued to smile. Even if the rest of us couldn't, I think that in itself says a lot." Natsu glanced at Gray and winced at the small smile that was on the ice user's face. Natsu could tell that it was being forced, though he could appreciate the attempt.

Not that a smile would make anything okay or bring Lucy back. Her smile was the one that he wanted to see, he couldn't help but feel a little bit bitter that Gray had gotten to see it so much.

Though he knew it was selfish to see it that way, especially considering the fact that he'd been the one to leave for a year.

"I want to visit her, can you take me to her…" Natsu choked on the word 'grave'.

Gray nodded, "Yeah. I can do that Natsu."

Lucy was buried beneath the very same tree that Natsu had dug up for her when she was too sick to attend the festival all that time ago. Makarov had needed to pull a few strings in order to fulfill that wish, though it was where Lucy had wanted to be buried. So they managed to make it work out, besides… the mayor was very fond of Fairy Tail and all of the guild members. Although a little reluctant… he'd given in relatively easily once Makarov promised to fund the whole thing himself.

The wind blew as Natsu stood before the shiny granite stone that sparkled beneath the canopy of the tree.

"You really chose a nice spot, Luce." Natsu found himself saying finally, "I'm gonna be sure to visit you all the time, okay?" Natsu listened as Gray left and slowly sat down in front of the stone. Grass was already covering over the upturned soil from when she'd been buried, he didn't doubt that magic was involved with that. There were even a few flowers blooming right near her stone.

Lucy was visited often, Natsu could tell that much already.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you…" he whispered finally, "I know that you said you didn't want me to be, but damnit, I wish I could have been." Happy sniffled loudly before he jumped off of Natsu's shoulder and walked over to the stone, sitting down next to it. Tears were walling from the cat's eyes and Natsu felt his heart squeeze painfully within his chest.

He probably would have broken down right then and there if it wasn't for the reminder of her letter and its words that he held in his hand.

"Come on Happy," Natsu said after a long moment of struggling to calm down a little bit himself, "Let's tell Lucy about all of the adventures we went on while we were away, I'm sure she'd love to hear about them." Happy blinked up at Natsu, his lips trembling before he sniffled again and nodded, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears.

"Aye!"


	8. Light

Another thank you to MagicFangirlHS for the review~ I'm so happy you enjoy my writing 3

Please be sure to review if you like this

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"Natsu, you're blocking the light." Lucy complained as she peered up at him with a frown on her face, she was trying to read. One of her favorite books, if she were to be specific.

So she didn't much care for the disturbance in her quality book time. Especially since it felt as though she hardly ever had the chance to read anymore, she was always going on jobs with this guy! Didn't he ever get tired and want to relax?

"Lucy, we're at the beach. Why are you reading at the beach? We're here to have fun, not do stuff we could do when we're at home!" He folded his arms across his chest and pouted down at her, despite the fact that right at that moment… all of Natsu's features were shadowed over because of how he was standing directly in front of the sun.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but _some_ of us actually have fun reading." The blonde poked a thumb over her shoulder to the blue-haired solid script mage who raised a hand without taking her eyes off of the page that she was reading.

"Well sure, but why can't you wait until you get back home to read that thing? I've seen you read it before! It's not like this is the first time you're reading it!" Natsu didn't understand why Lucy would want to waste a day spent at the beach reading. "The water is nice and warm!" He tacked on, as though this would help change Lucy's mind.

She raised an eyebrow before she shook her head, "No it's not, Natsu. It just feels that way to _you_ because of your insane body temperature. I tested out the water when we first got here, remember? It was practically ice cold!"

"I agree with Flame Breath, the water is not too bad." Gray called from nearby, clearly having overheard the conversation.

"You don't count as a good opinion either, Gray!" Lucy shouted indignantly, "You could be naked and rolling around in the snow and you would probably be saying the same thing!" Lucy turned her eyes back down towards her book with a slightly warm face, "And put your swimsuit back on!"

"When did that happen?!" She heard Gray yell, though definitely avoided looking up again.

"Juvia will take her swimsuit off too!" Juvia began, soon followed by Gray's insistent protesting.

Natsu grumbled with a frown as he watched Lucy go back to reading, despite how he continued to block out the sun from her view.

Not on his watch! Natsu snatched the book from Lucy's hands and took off running, grinning in response to the squeal of protest that he left behind. He didn't need to look back in order to guess that Lucy had taken the bait and started chasing after him.

"You lost my page you jerk!" She shouted when he turned on his heel and started to run backwards so that he could watch Lucy scramble after him. There was murder in her eyes as she reached for him and cursed when she missed. "Natsu! Stop it! Thats an old book!" She made another attempt to reach for the book and stumbled in the process, barely managing to catch herself from falling face first into the sand.

"What's the matter Lucy? Can't 'cha keep up with somebody who isn't even trying?" Natsu laughed again and Lucy groaned. The rose-haired young man had way too much fun when it came to messing with Lucy, it was definitely one of his favorite past times. Sometimes, it was difficult for Natsu to remember what life was like before Lucy stumbled her way into his world. He didn't really mind though, he didn't think he'd be too good at living without Lucy anymore these days.

In what could easily be interpreted as what some called 'instant karma', Natsu tripped over something and found himself falling backwards. He yelped and was extra careful to protect the book that he'd been holding in his hand.

Lucy, not prepared for the sudden need to stop, tripped as well and landed right on top of the dragon slayer. The two rolled through the sand and splashed right into the icy water. Lucy burst out of the water, spluttering before she spun around to find Natsu. A look of horror was painted across her face until her eyes landed on a hand and book that was poking just outside of the water. Soon, Natsu sat up and glared at Lucy.

"Geez Luce! I thought you had more grace than that!" Though he couldn't help but laugh at his own statement, "Okay, maybe not. I guess that wasn't too surprising." He laughed again but slowly stopped when he realized that Lucy wasn't laughing.

"Hey, your book is fine! See!" Natsu pointed to the very dry book, "You don't need to be angry, I was just playing around." Natsu definitely hadn't meant any harm, he'd even gone out of his way to make sure that he didn't actually damage the book that he'd stolen.

Lucy didn't say anything, she only took the book from him and threw it to shore haphazardly before taking Natsu's face in her hands and pulled his face to hers.

Their kiss was salty from the ocean water, yet sweet to the touch.

When they pulled away, Natsu stared at Lucy with shock in his eyes. "Wait, I'm confused." He said slowly, not entirely sure he understood why he deserved this kind of reaction. He had _definitely_ thought that she was going to be angry that he'd nearly ruined her book.

"You're so sexy when you save books from water damage," Lucy whispered into the dragon slayers ear, immediately causing his face to redden.

Lucy then threw her arms around him again and the two fell into the water once more, the sound of their laughter cut off once they were under. It was safe to say that none of the others saw hide nor hair of Lucy or Natsu until _much_ later in the day.


End file.
